Water-wheel.



Patented Mar. l3, I900.

No. 645,22l. S. J. TUTTHILL.

WATER WHEEL. A lication flied July 1, 1899.)-

(No Model.)

IN TE.N' TOR yljlkcrmf 1 762? 711166 0 m A Attorneys UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

STEPHEN J. TUITHILL, or OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE TUTTHILLWATER WHEEL COMPANY, or SAN FRANCISCO, CALI- FORNIA.

WATER-WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 645,221, dated March13, 1900. Application filed July 1,1899. Serial No. 722,575. (No model.)

, To a 1072 0121, it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN J. TUTTHILL, a citizen .of the UnitedStates, residing in Oakland, county of Alameda, State of California,have invented an Improvement in WVater-iVheels; and I hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to improvements in water-wheels, particularly ofthat class in which buckets are disposed around the periphery andadapted to receive water delivered into them by a nozzle under a highhead or pressure, so that the wheel is driven by the momentum of thiscombined velocity and pressure.

The invention consists of the parts and the constructions andcombinations of parts here: inafter described and claimed.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the wheel. Fig. 2 is a longitudinalsection of the same. Fig. 3 shows a modification where one set ofbuckets is cast with the rim. Fig. 4 is a detail in perspective, showingthe divided disk and hubs or sleeves.

In the construction of this class of wheels I it has been customary tobolt the buckets separately upon the rim of the wheel; but in manyplaces where this class of wheels is employed the water used contains somuch gravel, sand, or gritty material, which is carried by the water,that its impact under the high head and great velocity will soon wearout the buckets and will particularly cutoff the nuts or bolts by whichthe buckets are secured, so that they fly off the wheel. If the bucketsare cast or otherwise secured around the rim of the wheel, the wholewheel must be renewed when any number of the buckets are worn out. Theimpact of this water is also very deleterious to the shaft itself, andthe wear is so great that if the shaft is not protected it also wouldhave to be renewed in a comparatively short time.

It is the object of my invention to cast a plurality of buckets uponsegments which are fitted to the periphery of the wheel or disk and withthe ends of the segments abutting, so as to make practically acontinuous plate on each side, whereby the strain upon any particularsecuring-bolt is equally distributed throughout the segments and thesecuring-bolts thereof, and to so extend the hub of said wheel or diskthat it will cover and protect that portion of the shaft upon each sideof the wheel which is in line with and liable to be acted upon by thejet of water from the nozzle and to form the disk and its hub in aplurality of parts, so that when worn out any of these parts may beremoved and others substituted without destroying the whole structure.

As here shown, A is the'shaft upon which the Wheel is mounted. Thiswheel consists of disks B, bored to fit the shaft and having the hubs orsleeves 0 extending to a considerable distance upon each side, so as toinclose and protect thatportion of the shaft adjacent to the wheel.These hubs or sleeves are secured together and clamped upon thewheel-shaft by means of bolts and nuts 10 or in any suitable or-desiredmanner and may be removed either individually or together by disengagingthem therefrom. The periphery of the disk forms a flange, and thebuckets D are cast upon segments E of any desired length. These segmentsmay be one-half or other portion of a circle, those upon the left sidecarrying one half of the buckets D and those upon the right sidecarrying the other half, which when the wheel is put together standbetween those of the left half. The

segments are preferably bolted upon oppo-' sitesides of the wheel-rim,so that the meeting ends of the segments on one side do not standopposite to those on the other sides, and the said ends of the segmentson each side abut squarely against each other, so as to makesubstantiallya continuous plate,where- 'by the strain brought upon anyparticular securing-bolt is com municatedto and equally distributedthroughout the segments and the securing-bolts thereof. The segments arealso, shown as having inwardlyextending flanges e, which inclose andprotect the periphery of the flange B.

The buckets are so disposed that the inner edges of the right and leftbuckets overlap, so that a jet of water delivered from the nozzle in theline with the center of the wheel will alternately pass into the bucketsof one side and the buckets of the other side, and these buckets havethe interior so curved that the water received therein from the nozzleis diverted outwardly and in a curve which is designed to utilize,first, the direct impact of the water, and, secondly, the reactionaryforce of the water as it escapes from the bucket, and at the same timeto discharge the water outwardly and away from the wheel, so that itwill not strike any portion of the wheel or the buckets to impede itsrevolution.

The flanges to which thebuckets are cast are adapted to fit upon the rimof the wheel and are secured thereto by bolts; but these bolts areentirely protected from the impact of the stream of water, because theyare beneath the buckets, which, overlapping, as'shown, prevent the waterfrom striking the bolts.

Whenever any section of a hub or buckets thus constructed is destroyedby the attrition of the sharp sand or material carried by the a water,it can be easily removed and a new secwith.

tion supplied without great loss of time and the serious expense ofreplacing the whole structure.

In Fig. 3 I show each alternate bucket cast with the disk or rim B, andthe intermediate buckets are cast with a short section of flange D,adapted to be bolted to the disk B intermediate between those which arecast there- Thus every alternate bucket around the periphery of thewheel is cast therewith and the intermediate alternate buckets arevindependent and movable therefrom.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A Water-wheel consisting of a disk and hub and a shaft to which theyare secured, segments bolted flatwise against the sides of the disk andeach formed with a plurality of buckets said segments having their endsabutting directly against each other to make substantially 'a continuousplate whereby the hand.

against each other to form substantially a continuous plate on each sideof the disk whereby the strain upon the bolts is equally distributedsaid segments each formed integral with a plurality of buckets with thebuckets on one side of the disk occupying spaces between those on theother side of the disk.

3. In a waterwheel, a shaft, a divided disk and divided hub fittedthereto said hub extending outwardly along the'line of the shaft,vertically-disposed segments fitted fiatwise against. the vertical sidesof the disk and each formed with a plurality of buckets said segmentsoccupying substantially the space between the rim of the disk and thehub with the ends. of one segment abutting directly against the ends ofa companion segment whereby each segment directly resists the strainbrought upon the other, and the strain upon the securing-bolts isequally distributed.

4. In a water-wheel, the combination of a shaft, a hub andvertically-disposed disk fitted to'said shaft, vertically-disposedsegments bolted flatwise against the sides of the disk and occupyingthespace between the periphcry of the disk and the hub, each of saidsegments formed with a plurality of buckets and each havinginwardly-extending flanges adapted to embrace and protect the peripheryof the disk.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my STEPHEN J; TUTTHILL.

Witnesses:

GEo. H. STRONG, S. 'H. No RsE.

